Six of Alaska’s collecting institutions, in six communities from Unalaska to Fairbanks, have been awarded $72,600 in grants. The awards will support the acquisition of artwork through funds created by Rasmuson Foundation and administered by Museums Alaska.
The Art Acquisition Fund invites museums and cultural centers to submit proposals to purchase recent works by contemporary Alaskan artists. Now in its seventeenth year, this initiative has helped institutions across Alaska enhance their collections, interpret contemporary themes, and support hundreds of visual artists. In March, Alaska museums received funding to purchase 12 pieces of artwork from 9 Alaskan artists—including paintings, a helmet, a woven robe, mixed media, colored pencil drawings, and a photographic print.
Of note, Ketchikan Museums will purchase a Chilkat robe woven by Dorica Jackson, receiving the full amount of funding allotted per year per organization from this fund. Two works in colored pencil to be purchased include a drawing of a family of desmos, an extinct Alaska marine mammal, by Ray Troll to be purchased by the Museum of the Aleutians, and a set of 18 drawings of Alaska wildflowers by Karen Stomberg to be purchased by the University of Alaska Museum of the North.
The fund will offer two additional grant opportunities in 2019. For eligibility information, application deadlines, and submission directions, please visit the Museums Alaska website.
Museums Alaska is a statewide professional organization supporting Alaska’s collecting institutions and their staff members and volunteers. The non-profit organization supports museums and cultural centers in Alaska and enhances public understanding of their value. A nine-member volunteer board governs Museums Alaska with funding from memberships, grants, gifts, and sales.
ART ACQUISITION FUND AWARDS MARCH 2019
Alaska State Museum
Linda Infante Lyons Grounded $6,800
Daniel Papke Clio $4,800
Lena Snow Amason-Berns Kasa’inaq–Seal Helmet $4,900
Alutiiq Museum & Archaeological Repository
Linda Infante Lyons Spirit of the Merganser $3,500
Linda Infante Lyons Sunset at Pyramid Mountain $6,500
Bruce W. Nelson Back Side of Ugak Island $350
Clausen Memorial Museum
Carey Case Southeast $400
Ashley Lohr Top View $150
Ketchikan Museums
Dorica Jackson Diving Whale Chilkat Robe $35,000
Museum of the Aleutians
Ray Troll Alaska Desmo Family $1,750
Ray Troll diptych, Unalaska Desmo Head I and Unalaska Desmo Head II $4,250
University of Alaska Museum of the North
Karen Stomberg Collected Treasures: Six Alaska Wildflowers$9,000
